The Thing: Heartbeat Imitation
by DoctorAwoken
Summary: Man is the warmest place to hide. The story takes place just days after The Thing (1982) and arrives with brand new characters, paranoia inducing scenarios, a new outlook on The Thing, a even smarter, stealthier Thing and finally, a new camp. (This story is incomplete but will regularly be updated. Any criticism is appropriate and even encouraged.)
1. Chapter 1

Writers note:

This story occurs after the Outpost 31 incident, only a couple of days really. The setting is in the Amundson-Scott South Pole Station, Antartica. It's tied to the original 1982 film and prequel.

It had also been inspired by Peter Watts _The Things_ and many of H.P. Lovecraft's works.

I will continue to update chapters into it, as the story is not yet complete. The story will be regularly edited to rule out imperfections. It will also be conventially gorey and use some of the same tactics The Thing did in the 1982 film.

But, it offers a new aspect or two.

You won't know yet, but soon you shall.

Have a good read.

And don't forget:

 **Man is the warmest place to hide.**

 **[CHAPTER ONE]**

Two helicopters aviate over the harsh, barren and rather cold wasteland known to civilization as 'Antartica'. Or a seemingly endless landscape of it. Very desolate and unhospitable the place was, rest assured. But, no longer. For this was no longer the Antartic. To the passengers on the helicopters, this place was now _home_ for the rest of the winter. They all got here early for the winter before spring. A week in a half or so, actually. All the new folk here are gonna love it here

The helicopters all set and land in their consecutive landing zones, which were built by positioning steel flag poles with flags on them into a circle. Once landing, one of the crushed a flagpole. One of the passengers on this specific helicopters was visibly upset about the action and jeered at his pilots.

"Huh. Yeah, Niklas! Would you mind telling me just what in the _hell_ are you doing?!"

The passenger interrogated the pilot, much to the Finnish pilot's dismay, and flinched at the passenger's yelling.

"Uh, yeah...Uh...Sorry about that, Andrew, but I mean...It's just a flag, not like it can wreck our helikopteri."

"Well, of course it can't wreck the- Wait, just a flag? Just a- Ugh, forget it."

The passenger hops off the helicopter and drags his backpack off of the floor of the helicopter with him too, before stepping back, and creating small crunching noises from the snow.

"Well, fellas, what're you all doing? Get your shit and go! We gotta get orientated."

"We're JUST arriving at the station. Calm down, Andy, damn. You're not in command either, Richards is."

A african american fellow who was about 5'7 tall said, hopping off the helicopter as well, landing feet on the white, snowy ground. Andrew could now get a closer look at what he wore, and what he wore was a green cup from under his blue hoodie and grey layered sweatpants and some black boots. He then pulled off his own grey hiking bag off the helicopter and onto his back as he walked onto the stations.

"Hey, don't tell me to 'calm down' Conrad! It's gettin' cold out here, you wanna freeze to death? Besides, as you said, Richards needs to get us orientated. We're the new guys, remember?"

"It's always cold here. Get used to it here. And Richards can wait. That was a long ass ride."

The slightly taller male said to Andrew, not even looking over his shoulder to glance at the other. Andrew growled lowly and defeatedly and began to walk after Conrad, before taking one last glimpse at the Station helicopter.

"Amerikkalaiset... Kiivas, mutta ei kuuma elin vastustaa kylmä..."

Ervin, the co-pilot muttered in his own language, before chuckling a bit to himself. Then, he looked over to a window and saw his own reflection, faintly and dully still able to see his own green eyes through his goggles, however. Lazily, he pulled open his side door and fell out of it, landing on his feet. A few others including Niklas jumped out and took their gear, including Joseph Frankfurd, the british doctor and surgeon for the team who stood at about 5'6 and had a meek appearance in all, having a skinny stature for his age. Then, Eemeli Alpi, the Finnish guard who stood at 6'2 and almost seemed to be a giant to the others. A blond, blue eyed, gentle giant. But, a strong one. And finally Henry Love, a whole mix of things. A writer, and researcher and also paleontologist. There were quite a few paleontologists arriving in the Antartic these days. Supposedly Norwegians. In fact, a couple of way from this site was some American outpost. _Outpost 31,_ and right near it would be the Norwegian camp, _Thule._ The Norwegians there were supposedly on some expedition. Some kind of paleontology project. Why would there be paleontologists in the Antartic anyways? It didn't matter. Now that we bring up Henry...He was actually a quite queer young man, contrasting to some of the older men here. He was about 5'5, had pale skin, blue bright eyes and brown, nicely kempt hair. He had little to no imperfections on his skin, though you couldn't tell from his whole body being dressed by a red, stuffed coat, which seems to have had a green jacket inside. He was also seemingly attempting to grow a beard, but it didn't work that well. His time here may change that though, since the hair would keep him more warm. He came out the helicopter last, having just read _At The Mountains of Madness_ By H.P. Lovecraft, and still holding onto the book. He also held a journal with him, showing that the queer,odd, young gentleman had been either citing from the story

He looked around and saw as other new members of the team exited the helicopter and head towards the station, talking to the old members about the station

Yeah...This was it.

The Amundsen-Scott Station.

This.

This was **home** now.


	2. Chapter 2

**[CHAPTER TWO]**

Well, now Henry was here. Despite there not being alot of buildings, the main glass, dome building almost seemed monolithic and imposing. He wonders what the new members thought. The team brought a large assortment of different particular supplies. They just gotta be sure they were gonna make it by here. Though Alot was here. Whether it would be for building was rations, for keeping the crew entertained or even dangerous lot of items were held in the camp. Dynamite for instance, which they planned to use for expeditions and operations, a single flamethrower they kept in case of emergencies like if they were to be trapped in snow or ice and even a gun a couple of guns. Yeah, they had guns. Only for certain events in which they needed to be armed. It wasn't expected for danger to occur, but they had to be prepared. It wasn't even the original members idea to say that. They would be pissed, if they found the guns probably. They were pistols however, and could be holstered. Well, actually, the new guard would be permitted to have one most indefinitely and maybe the commander and dog handler. Henry actually didn't know.

Henry walked through the snow and sat in a small set up that was like a camp outside the main building, on a log at a campfire. Yes, they brung a couple of logs and sticks here in case they wanted to start a fire. Such a waste to use some of the wood on the first actual day the crew got here. Isaac Carper, an engineer sat next to Henry and began to speak, a guitar in his hand being brushed slightly while so.

"So. Mister...Er...Henry? You're some kind of researcher we got on the team, right? Well, you're also a author right? It's what I heard from the others...Are you writing some book?"

"...Perhaps. What's your name?"

"Isaac."

The two started to smiled at each other after pulling down their hoods so they could get a better look at each other's faces. Which seemed like an awful idea right after, as to how cold it was this night. So, in sync, they pull up their hoods, almost comedically. They seem to quickly start becoming good acquaintances.

"Heh...Uh...Nice to meet you, sir. You look familiar. Are you one of our engineers?"

"Yeah. Sorta. Anyways, what would the book be about? I may read it."

"...Base it a little on my discoveries here...And the way I will be living here. In all, my book will be based on my experiences."

Isaac instantly cringed when he heard what the concept for the book would be. Was this guy serious? _That_ was what he was gonna come up with? Hell, he could publish three books based on the experience of taking a single shit, and it'd have the same outcome. Or so he thought. But, really, who was he to judge?

"What? It's not gonna be completely about it here. I plan to add some...exponentially interesting ideas."

This suddenly caught Isaac's attention, and he began to get cheery.

"Woah~! Like?"

The two spoke for what seems to be about three to four hours on books and Henry's own book. They seemed to be getting along quite nicely, actually. The twenty one man team had been talking with each other the whole time.

Henry sighed as he checked his watch. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. It was night, after all.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Hopefully construction is at least halfway complete. Need some sl-."

"Hey, kaverit!"

A voice rang out to the two. Looking over their shoulder, they saw some gingered lady standing a couple feet away from them. She was dressed in a blue coat which held snow on it, which shifted as she folded her arms.

"It's a meeting. Mandatory. It's in the main building."

They both nodded, and went along with her to the monolithic, glass, dome, main building in the center of the station, spotting the entrance and entering. They quickly learned she was the dog handler for the huskies they had down here. No one got a good look at them yet, but it was mostly because of the fact they were all in their kennel, resting. When they got inside, they were blasted with heat and light, way stronger than from the fire. Immediately, they were greeted by the smell of food and people talking. Some were speaking finnish. Others, english. But, it didn't matter who said what in what language. They were all interrupted by the loud sound of a old man who adorned a set of glasses and a brown beard fading white at the tip of it.

"Parlamentin jäsenet!"

He said in Finnish to grab the attention of his Finnish team members and soon began to speak in English to get the English member's to understand his intentions. He had a Finnish translator next to him, translating the things he said just in case. When the Finnish cursed the translator and told him they could speak English, the translator subsided into the crowd with them with a sigh. Some people weren't even Finnish. People from all around the world came here. But, it just seemed like quite a few Finnish were here now.

"Gentlemen. As you may or may not be aware of, my name is Commander Richards. And this here is the Amundsen-Scott station. We're here to conduct research and...well, other things out here in the Antartic. As you may have picked up before, we're here to do multiple things. You lot are smart right? All of you got a college degree. Research the climate and geology of Antarctica. Well, some of you won't exactly be doing that, but that's _mostly_ what we're going for here. But, we're also here to go deep into the ice and see what we can find. Now I know that the new members have just started out. But, bear with me; We're going to go on a operation tomorrow. There has been some mixed message that was sent out from Outpost 31. We have suspicion they may be in some kind of danger. Smoke has been rising from their camp for quite some time now. We may just be a research team with multiple objectives, but we're also human. 5 men will go out to investigate. We'll also attempt to contact Thule and see what they have to say about it on the communication devices. Right. Anyways, meeting over. Get some rest. Tomorrow is gonna be one _hell_ of a day."

They all dismissed their selves, and most went to bed. Not Henry though. He stood up, waiting excitedly for the next, mysterious and intriguing day to come. The day that he'd see it all.


	3. Chapter 3

**[CHAPTER THREE]**

* * *

A heartbeat.

That was all Henry could hear while in the noisy, ear piercingly loud helicopter flew over the planes of snow. The drone of the blades of the helicopter were hypnotizing. But that wasn't what he heard.

A heartbeat.

 _His_ heartbeat.

A great feel of dread filled his whole body as the helicopter sailed the winds of the Antartica, and he looked to the other four team members for comfort. What was it he dreaded? He didn't know. It was an anonymous blight that sieged the mind and heart.

They entered camp of dying smoke. What the hell happened here?

"Jesus Christ! What in god's name did this?"

As they landed, Andrew and Conrad dropped out. Henry stared off into space through the pilot's windows, in awe of the cataclysm that was beset across Outpost 31. The dread became worse as he had to step onto the snow. Ervin and Niklas dropped out shortly after. There were dying smoke, and a charred station. The five looked at each other, intensely before Andrew brung up an idea.

"Right. Ervin and Niklas, both of you two go northeast and check for survivors or bodies there, Me and Conrad will go Northwest and we'll check there, and Henry...you go North. Anything happens, yell. Got it?"

Conrad sighed and shook his head.

"Sure..."

"Hey! No getting sassy! We're saving lives, damn you!"

Andrew snapped and snarled before looking over to the other three for some of their criticism.

Ervin and Niklas didn't respond, and just gave a simple nod before going northeast. Andrew and Conrad argued as they walked off to the northwest. And Henry?

The heartbeat grew loud. Louder than it ever has been. He began walking, walking blankly in a straight line. He looked around at the destroyed buildings. It seems like some wood had been hacked off buildings for a fire. The streaks lay him to the seemingly main fire. And in that fire was something so disgusting and vile, it made Henry wanna hurl. A bunch of deformed, grotesque bodies. Some didn't even look human. Cans had been set around the fire, and footprints had been set in the snow.

That's when Henry realized:

 **Something was here.**

* * *

Macready had been stalking the young man ever since he heard the helicopter. Was this his hope now? He had to act now. But, what about Childs? His corpse had been left in the burnt ruins...He couldn't have burned it earlier. Never had the heart to do it...but he had to do it now! In a quick rush, Macready puts on his cowboy hat as he ran towards the shack, in front of Henry, dashing in a flash.

"Hey! Who are you!? Guys, I found a survivor come here!"

Good boy. Before, he didn't want anyone to find him, but that's when Childs was still alive. He may have freezed to death- or he may have been hibernating. Either way, he didn't want to come to the fire that night. Poetically, he shared his last bit of alcohol. Or was it gasoline? Hell, Macready didn't know that night. It wouldn't matter. What matters now is getting the fuck out of here.

"Oh fuck, what?! Hey, sir! Come back, we can help you!"

An African American said after pulling through one of the charred buildings, another man following after. That couldn't be the whole rescue team. Though, small numbers are a good thing after going through what Macready has. Macready picked up Childs and hurried to the fire. Two other men came shortly. It appeared to them all that he was going towards them, but he wasn't.

"It's alright! We'll take care of your friend's co-"

Macready rammed through them. The young man widened his eyes as he saw that he was going towards a fire.

"H-Hey, stop!"

Macready looked over his shoulder and then towards the fire. He was so close...unfortunately he was robbed from that last piece of a sound mind. He was tackled into the snow by the young man, which enticed a shriek and a kick. Kicking the young man onto the ground, Macready rushed for Childs body, but was placed into a chokehold by one of the men and restrained by several others besides the young man. Then...

 **Everything faded to black.**

* * *

Henry sat there in disbelief to what he saw. Then Ervin grumbled to himself before sniffing.

"What the hell was that all about? This guy is crazy...Looks like he's the only survivor. It doesn't seem like anyone else is here...God, what's that smell?"

Andrew stood up, releasing the crazed, bearded man from the chokehold and sighed. He smelled it to. It seems like the man has been cremating corpses. He looked over into the fire, and cringed at the sight.

"Gross...We didn't find anyone either. Just a bunch of rubbish. Is this all the work of one man? We gotta talk to him back in the station. Grab that corpse too. At least we can make a grave for him."

Henry stared at the frozen corpse and started to breath profusely. Something wasn't right. There had to be a reason that man was burning corpses. Without any further discussion the four men, excluding Henry, carried the bearded man and the frozen corpse on board to the helicopter. As they flew, Henry sat there, focusing on the heartbeat in his head. But, it wasn't his heartbeat anymore. He looked to the bearded man before looking at the corpse again. Staring at the face. It was almost as if he was staring into his soul. And while the others couldn't hear it...He did. The heartbeat...

The heartbeat.

Something wasn't right about it.

It wasn't a real heartbeat...

 _It was a heartbeat imitation._

* * *

 **Cue: Humanity PT. 2**

* * *

(DoctorAwoken Author notes: So, I have recently discovered you can do this line thing so- I'll use it very often. And yes, Macready is back. And yes, Humanity PT. 2 will be used whenever something wrong is going on.)


	4. Chapter 4

Please listen to this masterpiece as you read along. This song will now be used for when ever a sinister situation is to occur, as the way it was used in the movie.

The score: Humanity PT. 2. It is also known as 'The Thing Theme'

(Also, somethings about the station may not be accurate as to it is in real life but whatevs.

Thank you and continue reading.

* * *

 **[CHAPTER FOUR]**

* * *

Once setting down on the ground, Henry took his eyes off of the corpse and the bearded man, and looked at his team mates in the helicopter. They looked at him, confused. They've been watching him stare at the two for what seems to have been forever now. Shaking his head, he got off the helicopter, and saw to his amazement, a bunch of people in a double column line, awaiting for the arrival of the survivors and Henry and the other. At the end of the column was Richards, and Joseph Frankfurd. Niklas, Ervin, Andrew and Conrad all got out, and started carrying them to the end of the line. Henry walked slowly behind, wary of something about to happen. So many faces were here...Even Isaac's. There was a sense of vague muttering and chattering from everyone around.

Enigma.

They all stared at the two bodies that were carried. Were they alive or dead, they pondered? Then again, one looked very frozen. So, the other...Was that all that was left?

"Hey, what the hell happened?!"

Douglas, the cook said with a hint of remorse stuck in his voice as he almost lunged forward. He was seemingly distraught by the display.

Conrad looked over to him and shook his head to quiet him down. After that, Douglas just looked down and awkwardly rubbed his arm. He couldn't believe what was going on. As Henry and the rest got near Richards, suddenly, the bearded man's eyes shot open.

* * *

Macready woke up, unaware of his present, sticky situation. His rather...Oh god no.

Looking over to his left, he saw the corpse of Childs being carried, and then in front of him,someone holding up his legs. He kicked the man in the face, making a gush of blood come out of his nose, and made everyone there panic. Pulling free from the one holding his hands, he got on his feet, and immediately attempted to fight the ones holding Childs. People started to circle him, and the young fellow from before fell silent

"You stupid fuckers, you should've let me burn it!"

He yelled, but his further attempts to be vocal about the situation was halted by the sound of a gun being shot in the air.

A guard stood there, eyes open and staring intimidatingly. His gun was pointed upwards and distracted Macready long enough for him to be restrained by two of the men holding him from before. People jolted back as they watch as some guy, seemingly their commander nearing in.

"So, is this the only survivor?"

"Yes sir. Everything was burnt down. Looked to be the work of explosives. There was a bonfire in the middle of Outpost 31 that he seemed to have kept going from remaining pieces of fire. He seems to be living off of that and canned food. Interestingly, he was burning bodies- They all looked malformed and disfigured. Or at least that's from what I saw...This guys not well. Tried to burn the last remaining corpse apparently. We had to knock him out."

Everyone went silent except Macready who was growling like a desperate predator. The man in charge tilted his head and scratched his beard before crouching down to Macready.

"Son what's-"

Macready head-butted the man, bloodying his nose as well and breaking his glasses. Stumbling back, the man wiped the blood away.

"My name is R.J. Macready, pilot. And you're fucking with the wrong pilot, asshole."

It took everyone a minute, but they suddenly heard chuckling from the commander, who kicked Macready in the face out of the sudden.

"And I'm Richards. Seems like you're getting along with my boot. Gentlemen, take Mister Macready to a holding cell for interrogation. Also, Joseph?"

"Yes...Sir?"

"I want a autopsy on that corpse ASAP. See what the hell is bothering Ser R.J. and do it thoroughly."

"Alright."

* * *

'Macready' and the corpse was dragged deep inside the compound, where they would be sent to a holding cell and autopsy room. Henry in the mean time just stood there, motionless, before Isaac grabbed him by the hand and took him inside, ready to talk to him about his adventure at Outpost 31.

The land of broken men and ash.


End file.
